Homebirths

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If there was anyone more excited than A.J. Langer and Charles, Lord Courtenay about the birth of their second child, 4-week-old Jack Haydon, it was their first child, 2 ½-year-old Joscelyn Skye.

“She was very into the whole process and gave my belly millions of kisses as it grew,” A.J., 35, tells Breezy Mama. “We talked about her baby brother/sister and if it would be a boy or a girl –- her first guess was a boy with blue eyes like daddy –- so far it looks like she was right.”

“She came to midwives visits and we talked through the whole deal. She was always interested and excited about the baby. She was very involved with all the preparation and was great company throughout.”

Happily, Joscelyn’s enthusiasm hasn’t waned since baby boy went from being an abstract idea to an actual person. “She loves him and is amazingly patient with him,” the former My So-Called Life star proudly reports, though Joscelyn is “not necessarily so patient with mommy!”

Both kids’ names hold great personal significance for the couple, in a variety of ways. Joscelyn was a name from Charlie’s family tree, though it was a boy name and was spelled with an ‘i’ instead of a ‘y,’ while Skye was after the Isle of Skye, a place the couple vacationed shortly after they began dating. Jack, meanwhile, is Charlie’s maternal grandfather’s name, while Haydon is “a beautiful forest near the castle in Devon — it gets completely blanketed in bluebells once a year and is breathtaking,” A.J. shares. She adds,

“We didn’t decide on the names until we had a chance to meet them. We had lists of girls’ and boys’ names and then when they were born we took our time to settle on the right ones.”

Click below to read about A.J.’s thoughts on her two homebirths.

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Sara Jaye Weiss/Startraks

The importance of a quality education can never be underscored, and that’s why Erykah Badu says she felt compelled to homeschool son Seven Sirius, 11 ½, through kindergarten and first-grade. “I wanted to give [him] special attention academically, to give him an advantage,” the 38-year-old songstress explains in a new interview with Babble.

Mission accomplished! Erykah says that through their collective effort, Seven “learned how to solve problems in a nontraditional way” which has served him well now that he is enrolled in a traditional school. “He developed an edge in his schoolwork,” Erykah notes. “He enjoys challenges…He pushes himself…He does his homework voluntarily.”

“He does not want to miss school or be late or be untidy or not have his things in order because that was a big part of how he was brought up. I don’t have any idea what Seven is going to choose to do, but he knows how to be disciplined and how to learn, and because of that he’s one of the top students in his school, and one of the top students in Dallas.”

Citing “parents not participating in kids’ schooling,” as her biggest parental pet peeve, Erykah adds,

“I don’t think it matters what school you go to, but I think it’s important for parents to be involved. And to know that when school stops, learning continues, and to continue teaching at home.”

Click below to learn who “dared” Erykah to tweet Mars’ birth.

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Billy Tompkins/Retna

It’s a girl for 311 singer/guitarist Nick Hexum and wife Nikki! The couple welcomed daughter Echo Hexum at approximately 4 a.m. on Saturday, August 29th following a homebirth, according to a Tweet from Nick. Of the experience he writes,

“Words cannot describe how amazing it was. Time to go to bed.”

Just four hours later Nick, 39, followed up with “thanks, you guys…my heart sings today,” and on Tuesday said, “Day three of parenting. This is the greatest thing ever.”

Echo is the first child for the couple, who were married last New Year’s Eve.

Source: Nick Hexum

Thanks to CBB reader Jennifer.

Peter Kramer/Getty

It’s a boy for former My So Called Life star A.J. Langer, 35, and her husband Charles, Lord Courtenay.

According to a birth announcement appearing in Saturday’s edition of the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, the couple welcomed Jack Haydon Langer Courtenay at home in California on Sunday, August 16th. A.J.’s rep tells CBB that Jack arrived at 3:03 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs. and 19.25 inches long.

Jack joins “proud big sister” Joscelyn Skye, 2 ½.

A.J. and Lord Courtenay — the eldest son and heir of the Earl of Devon — were married in 2004.

Source: Telegraph

In anticipation of our interview with The Business of Being Born’s Ricki Lake and filmmaker Abby Epstein about their new book, Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience and social networking site, My Best Birth, we’ve been thinking a lot (and differently) about natural childbirth.

Many celebrities chose to give birth without drugs or medical intervention, whether at home, a birthing center or hospital, and we know many of you have as well. Now tell us why or, if you’re contemplating natural childbirth for your new birth, what attracts you most to it.

Click here to see who gave birth naturally or at home.

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Would you be interested in weighing in on more questions such as this? If so, click here to join our panel of CBB moms at the new Celebrity Baby Blog VIP Panel. Celebrity Baby Blog VIP is open to residents of the United States and Canada.

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As the host of Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls is used to testing his limits. But his skills as a husband were truly put to the test when wife Shara decided to deliver the couple’s third son, 3-month-old Huckleberry Edward Jocelyne, on the couple’s houseboat. In a story for the April 2009 issue of Men’s Journal, the 34-year-old survivalist gave expectant fathers advice on how to “survive” a homebirth.

The couple “both love home,” and after having suffered through “a few bad experiences” himself, Bear admits he’s developed “a pretty healthy hatred of hospitals.” Together they decided to pursue a homebirth, an experience Bear describes as “absolutely brilliant.”

“The cons are that you have quite a lot of blood and gore, and you don’t have the emergency help if it all starts to go pear-shaped. But then again, she feels safe and secure, and she’s got me hovering over her with a toolbox. What more can an expecting mother want?”

Acutely aware of his role in the equation — telling the magazine “all I was there for, really, was reassurance” — Bear used his “homeopathic kit” to distract his laboring wife. “The more pain she was in, the more I was going ‘What are your symptoms?’” Bear recalls. “And then I’d list all these wacky things that homeopathic pills work for.” In the end, Huckleberry was born safe and sound, and an “amazing” Shara left her husband awestruck.

“Girls are so great in a big crisis. I’ve seen it in the mountains, too. Men are all great when it’s quite comfy and there’s lots of bravado, but when the sh-t really hits the fan, it’s the women who often come through.”

In addition to Huckleberry, Bear and Shara are parents to Jesse, 5 ½, and Marmaduke, 3.

Source: Men’s Journal

– Missy

Courtesy OK! UK

Thanking everything from 24 to curry takeout, Charlotte Church introduced her new son Dexter Lloyd, 5 weeks, in the February 3rd issue of OK! UK — and raved about life as a mom of two. “I was a bit of a pain in the ass in the last few months,” she admits. “I was so uncomfortable, I just completely lost sight of how amazing it is when you have a newborn and how precious they are.” Also getting high marks from Charlotte? Partner Gavin Henson, who had a soothing affect on the 22-year-old songstress during labor and delivery. “The midwife couldn’t believe how calm Gavin was,” Charlotte recalled. “He talked me through it.” Gavin — for his part — was quick to downplay his role.

“She was in so much pain. It’s frustrating because you’d like to take that pain away if you could, but you can’t do anything. So I was just trying to encourage her.”

As she did with 16-month-old Ruby Megan, Charlotte was hoping to deliver at home. Around 5 p.m. on January 10th, contractions were coming “quite regularly” but the couple were unsure if they were true, having suffered through several bouts of false labor in the weeks leading up to that moment. “I didn’t want to tell anyone in case it was a false alarm again, so we ordered Indian [takeout],” she said. The curry apparently did the trick! Just after midnight on January 11th, Charlotte was able to accomplish her goal of an unmedicated, midwife-assisted home birth; Unlike many women, however, she said that delivering a subsequent child was more painful than a first.

“Dexter was in an awkward position in my pelvis, he was all up close to my back. The contractions were really strong for a long time. I was shouting for [pain relief] but by the time they got it ready I was ready to push.”

Further complicating matters, Dexter was facing the wrong way – though in the final 15 minutes of labor he managed to turn on his own. ”He had an indentation on his head, because of the way he was laying and babies’ skulls are so soft,” Charlotte explained. “That took a few days to go down.”

Click below to read how Ruby is adjusting to life with a baby brother.

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Brian Ach/Getty

Update: In a new update via Twitter, it seems that the couple have reportedly named their daughter Mars Merkaba. Erykah adds, “Her eyes are looking right into mine. she struggles to focus. I wonder where she just came from. I mean…her spirit…”

Originally posted February 1st: Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu and her boyfriend Jay Electronica have welcomed their first child together! The couple’s baby girl was born today, February 1st, at “1:30 p.m. exactly,” according to the proud papa who, along with Erykah, provided updates throughout the day via Twitter. Sharing that their daughter had arrived, Jay writes,

“It’s the happiest day of my life.”

While no other details — including a name — have been released, per Jay’s updates, Erykah, 37, delivered her third child naturally. “My daughter is ready. Labor has begun. Everybody stand back. No hospitals. No doctors. No medicine. We’re waiting on midwife to show up,” revealed the excited dad earlier today. From the sound of things, Jay, along with Erykah’s 4 ½-year-old daughter Puma Rose had things under control! “I’m doing foot squeezes and foot rubs when the contractions hit. Puma is rubbing her hands.”

A few hours after the delivery, Erylah tweeted, “I can’t believe it’s over. Home birth, no painkillers, about five hours, she was a little past due date, but I didn’t mind waiting. Breath.”

The new baby joins Puma, Erykah’s daughter with rapper D.O.C and Seven Sirius, 11, Erykah’s son with Outkast’s Andre ‘Andre 3000′ Benjamin. The pregnancy was revealed at the Austin City Limits festival in September when Erykah took the stage in a smiley-face tee and showed off a growing belly.

Source: Jay Electronica

Thanks to CBB readers Tan and Fay.

Brian Ach/WireImage

Bear Grylls faces numerous hair-raising situations during the filming of Man vs. Wild, but nothing amazed him more than watching his wife Shara give birth naturally to their third son Huckleberry ‘Huck’ Edward Joscelyne two weeks ago. “Shara had him at home,” notes Bear, who says that it “was interesting, with me armed to the teeth and holding the toolbox at the ready” in case he was needed.

“She did it all with no pain relief … I tried to give her an aspirin at half way but then remembered she wasn’t even allowed that as it thins the blood!”

The 34-year-old is not the only one excited about the arrival of Huck, who he calls “pure heaven.” Brothers Marmaduke ‘Duke,’ 2 ½, and Jesse, 5 ½, “are so happy to have a baby brother. The three Musketeers.”

Man vs. Wild airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.

Source: Bear’s Official Blog

Jill Johnson/JPI

Soap star Ingo Rademacher and his fiancée Ehiku caused quite a stir with CBB readers when they announced that they had named their now 5-month-old son Peanut Kai. Ingo later shared that the name Peanut “puts a smile on everyone’s face” and “kind of represented joy and happiness to us.” The 37-year-old dad explains in a new interview with Soap Opera Digest that “people always end up with nicknames, so we just gave him a nickname,” adding that he and Ehiku believe Peanut is “a great name.” Even though their son “might go by Kai someday if he wants to,” both of his parents “felt very strongly about [the name] … we were like, ‘Let’s just do it. We know we’re going to get some slack over it.’ You should have seen some of the stuff on the Internet. People were going nuts about it!” Now that the couple has shared the story behind the name, don’t expect for them to do it again!

“We tried to explain it one time and we’ve given up trying to explain it. [We'll] leave it up to people’s imaginations. If people ask, ‘His name is Peanut?’ We don’t follow it up with an explanation anymore. We were [doing that] in the beginning and then we were like, ‘We’ve gotta stop. It’s just stupid.’”

Rather than focusing on his son’s name, the General Hospital star would rather talk about the joy his son has brought him — starting with the day he found out Ehiku’s pregnancy test was “so positive.” The couple “had wanted to start a family” and felt like they “had everything in place in our relationship and [were] where we wanted to be…that was the next step.” After having a feeling that Ehiku was pregnant, Ingo decided that he would venture out to purchase a pregnancy test.

“I was like, ‘Honey, I’m running to the store around the corner [to get a pregnancy test].’ When I got there, I was like, ‘Well, which one is the best?’ And [the clerks] were like, ‘I dunno.’ So I said, ‘Give me all three.’”

Click below to read about their homebirth and more!

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